Marin Spivack Chen Shi Taijiquan Gongfu Jia

Chen Taijiquan Gongfu Jia With Marin Spivack, First Impressions, by William Miller

I have recently returned from Boston for a week of intense training with Marin Spivack of the Chen Zhaokui lineage. Having appreciated Marin Spivack’s ability to articulate his experience regarding Chen Taiji, watching his videos, along with some of the highly achieved masters he has studied under, I took notice that their method differed from mine. This difference sparked my interest. I wanted to discover (more…)

Attaining Chen Taijiquan Gongfu & Character of Teachers

How does one go about getting through the door of the school (or teacher) which they have decided they want to learn from? This can be a complicated territory for would be students of Chinese internal gongfu. Due to cultural differences in some part, even achieving the proper perspective can be very deceptive. In these times many people may (in the west) still believe in taking things at face value. They often see their (usually Chinese) teachers as rather one dimensional. Due to language barriers and lack of cultural understanding (more…)

Chen Taijiquan Survival in Chen Village Through the Difficult Years Part 3

(By Warmond Fang)

This is the third and perhaps final article in covering the history of Chen Village and the development of Chen Taijiquan. This article will cover the time period starting from the Cultural Revolution and to the Return of Chen Zhaokui and later Feng Zhiqiang. Again, all Chinese sources will be posted and an English translation provided after. I will also list source material, author and links to original source material where available. I will start by translating a narrative given by Zhang Weizhen, the Communist Secretary for Chen Village starting from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

1966年，“文革”开始了，支持练拳的张蔚珍被罢了官。练拳的人失去了保护伞，先是成分不好的陈克忠被揪出来批斗，接着陈照丕也因一些历史问题被抓走。生性耿直的陈照丕因受不了侮辱和折磨跳井自杀，受伤后被家人抬回去养伤，刚刚热起的太极拳就这样冷了下来。

In 1966, The cultural revolution began. Zhang Weizhen (more…)

Chen Taijiquan Survival in Chen Village Through the Difficult Years Parts 1 & 2

Part 1:

(Taiji-guy-X was) claiming that Chen Taijiquan has no broken continuity and that what they call “old frame” in modern times is exactly what was practiced in Chen village since time immemorial and I can assure you this reading of history is incorrect and not supported by historical evidence.

It is true that all Chen Taijiquan started in Chenjiagou but due to a multitude of factors such as economic, political, natural disasters etc. Taijiquan suffered from broken continuity and what is called “old frame” or “laojia” today in Chen Village is not the same Taijiquan that has always been practiced since the advent of Chen Taiji in CJG. More accurately it was the frame that CZP brought back to Chen Village after he retired from the Yellow River Conservancy Commission in 1958 after discovering the fact that the art was near extinction in CJG.

Let’s first look at an original essay written by Chen Ke Shen (Chen Zhaopi’s son) regarding (more…)

Interesting old Chen Taijiquan Lineage Chart from Gene Chen

This is the old lineage chart given to us (students of Gene Chen) back in the 1990’s, before the commercialization of Chen family and the big business of Taiji Tourism. Memories..

Chen Taijiquan Gongfu Jia; Roots Determine the Genetics of Trunk and Branches

The reason for the stance methods, and the low stance methods is not (in our line) solely due to the common talking point that it is for strength, or even the very true point that it develops root.

In our line it really IS for developing root, but what is that root for? It is certainly for martial usage, but it and the leg methods/shapes also have an alternate purpose.

This is related to the energetic/medicinal design of the art. Just as the shapes of the arms determine energy flow, so do the shapes of the legs. Similar to meditation sitting methods, the stance methods and shapes of our art create and determine specific (more…)